Surveillance & subversion

A brief history of electronic surveillance and how citizens had evaded it.

Timeline

  • A hand drawing of Winston Smith Orwell's protagonist in 1984.

  • Nineteen Eighty-Four

    London, United Kingdom

    Nineteen Eighty-Four, a dystopian novel written by English novelist George Orwell, was published.

  • Image that represents the world population in 1955.

  • World population in 1955

    Worldwide

    World population has reached 2.8 billion. The rapid rise in the world population is mainly due because health measures became widely available.

  • A hand drawing of a women using a Zenith Flash-Matic.

  • The first remote control

    Chicago, United States

    The Zenith Flash-Matic, the first wireless remote control, was invented by Eugene Polley.

  • A picture of an Ampex VRX-1000.

  • The first videotape recorder

    California, United States

    Ampex released the VRX-1000, the world's first commercially successful videotape recorder.

  • A frame of The Twilight Zone.

  • The Twilight Zone

    New York, United States

    The first episode of The Twilight Zone, an American anthology television series created and presented by Rod Serling, was aired.

  • A hand drawing based on the 'Dawn of Man' sequence.

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey

    Washington, United States

    2001: A Space Odyssey, an epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, was released.

  • An image of Neil Armstrong on the moon.

  • "One giant leap for mankind"

    Worldwide

    The world watched the greatest single broadcast in television history: Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon’s surface.

  • An image of old computers.

  • The Internet

    California, United States

    Computers at Stanford and UCLA connected for the first time. This moment is considered the beginning of the Internet.

  • Image that represents the world population in 1970.

  • World population in 1970

    Worldwide

    World population has reached 3.6 billion., growth driven by high fertility rates.

  • An image of the ECHELON.

  • The ECHELON

    Washington, United States

    The ECHELON program was formally established by the United States government to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but later became the first-ever automated global mass surveillance system.

  • An image of the Gold Standard.

  • The end of the Gold Standard

    Washington, United States

    The United States government decides no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, abandoning the Gold Standard.

  • An image of an email.

  • The first email sent

    Massachusetts, United States

    Ray Tomlinson sent the first email. It was a test message to himself.

  • An image of the Watergate.

  • The Watergate Scandal

    Washington, United States

    The Watergate Scandal begins when employees of President Nixon's reelection campaign are caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters. A Senate investigation follow.

  • A hand drawing of a man using the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X on a steet in New York.

  • The first cellphone

    New York, United States

    The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, the world’s first hand-held wireless phone, was unveiled.

  • An image of the Altair 8800.

  • The first personal computer

    New Mexico, United States

    The Altair 8800, the first commercially successful personal computer, was released.

  • A hand drawing of the Church Committee

  • The Church Committee

    Washington, United States

    A series of leaks revealed illegal and unethical activities involving the FBI, the CIA, and the U.S. military. The U.S. Senate established an Intelligence Committee to investigate those activities.

  • An image of Microsoft Corporation.

  • Start me up

    New Mexico, United States

    Microsoft Corporation was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop computer software.

  • An image of Apple Computer Company.

  • Think different

    California, United States

    Apple Computer Company was founded by college dropouts Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

  • An image of the JVC HR-3300 VIDSTAR.

  • The first VHS VCR

    Tokyo, Japan

    The JVC HR-3300 VIDSTAR, the world's first VHS-based VCR to be released to the market, was revealed.

  • An image of V for Vendetta.

  • V for Vendetta

    London United, Kingdom

    V for Vendetta, a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd was published.

  • An image of the Betamovie BMC100.

  • The first one-piece camcorder

    Tokyo, Japan

    Sony revealed the first one-piece camcorder, the Betamovie BMC100.

  • Image that represents the world population in 1985.

  • World population in 1985

    Worldwide

    World population has reached 4.8 billion., marked by falling birthrates in some developing nations.

  • A The Handmaid's Tale's hand drawn.

  • The Handmaid's Tale

    Toronto, Canada

    Margaret Atwood published her highly acclaimed dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale.

  • An image of an handheld GPS.

  • The first GPS receiver

    California, United States

    Magellan Navigation Inc. unveiled its Magellan NAV 1000, the world's first commercial handheld GPS receiver.

  • An image of an Ampex DCT.

  • The Ampex DCT

    California, United States

    Ampex released the DCT, the first compressed digital video camera.

  • An image of Amazon.

  • Amazon

    Washington, United States

    Amazon, an American technology company, was founded by Jeff Bezos.

  • An image of the SORM.

  • The SORM

    Moscow, Russia

    The SORM (System for Operative Investigative Activities) was implemented by the Russian Government to access telephone and Internet communications all over Russia.

  • An imag of The Golden Shield Project.

  • The Great Firewall of China

    Beijing, China

    The Golden Shield Project often referred to as the Great Firewall of China, a censorship and surveillance project operated by the China Government, was initiated.

  • A hand drawing of Google's homepage in 1998.

  • Did you mean: Google?

    California, United States

    Google, an American technology company, was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

  • Image that represents the world population in 2000.

  • World population in 2000

    Worldwide

    World population has reached 6.1 billion.Most of the growth took place in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

  • An image of Google AdWords.

  • AdWords

    California, United States

    Google launched AdWords, the most advanced online advertising platform at that time.

  • An animated frame of Minority Report.

  • Minority Report

    New York, United States

    Minority Report, a futuristic film directed by Steven Spielberg which portrays elements of a dystopian future, was released.

  • The onion logo of the Tor network.

  • The Tor network

    United States

    The Tor network was initially deployed for enabling anonymous communication over the Internet.

  • A screenshot of Facebook's first homepage.

  • The Facebook

    Massachusetts, United States

    A Harvard sophomore named Mark Zuckerberg launches The Facebook, a social media website he had built in order to connect Harvard students with one another.

  • A frame of Children of Men.

  • Children of Men

    Venice, Italy

    Children of Men, a science fiction thriller film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, that presents a chaotic world in which women have become infertile, was released.

  • Wikileaks' logo.

  • Wikileaks

    Iceland

    Julian Assange launches Wikileaks, an international non-profit organisation that publishes news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources.

  • A hand drawing of Steve Jobs presenting the iPhone.

  • The iPhone

    San Francisco, California

    Steve Jobs, Apple's founder, introduced the iPhone, the first smartphone designed and marketed by Apple. The device is seen as a prototype for current cell phones, eliminating most physical hardware buttons and stylus in favor of a touch-based user interface. Its successor, the iPhone 3G, was announced in June 2008.

  • The launch of a Falcon rocket.

  • Falcon 1 launch

    Florida, United States

    The Falcon 1, an expendable launch system privately developed and manufactured by SpaceX, became the first privately-developed liquid-fuel launch vehicle to go into orbit around the Earth.

  • A bitcoin logo.

  • The Bitcoin network

    Worldwide

    The Bitcoin network was created when the first block of the Blockchain was mined.

  • A image of a pizza with physical Bitcoin coin.

  • Bitcoin Pizza Day

    Florida, United States

    On May 22, 2010, now known as Bitcoin Pizza Day, Laszlo Hanyecz agreed to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for two delivered Papa John's pizzas.

  • Silk Road logo.

  • Silk Road

    California, United States

    Silk Road, an online darknet market for selling illegal drugs, was launched by Ross Ulbricht.

  • Black Mirror's animated intro.

  • Black Mirror

    London, United Kingdom

    The first episode of Black Mirror, a British science fiction anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker, was aired.

  • Black Mirror's animated intro.

  • Citizenfour

    Worldwide

    Edward Snowden, alias Citizenfour, a former CIA worker, leaks an illegal global surveillance program created by the United States government.

  • An image of Silk Road's homepage seized.

  • Silk Road

    California, United States

    The FBI seized the Silk Road website and arrested Ross Ulbricht. Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA was involved in that case.

  • An image of Silk Road's homepage seized.

  • The Umbrella Movement

    City of Victoria, Hong Kong

    The Umbrella Movement protests began in Hong Kong demanding transparent elections. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the police's use of pepper spray to disperse the crowd during a 79-day occupation of the city.

  • An image of an Amazon's Echo.

  • Amazon's Alexa

    Washington, United States

    Alexa, a virtual assistant AI technology developed by Amazon, was released.

  • Image that represents the world population in 2015.

  • World population in 2015

    Worldwide

    World population has reached 7.3 billion. The 2010 worldwide recession has caused declines in birth rates in some developed countries.

  • An animated frame of the Minority Report movie.

  • The Handmaid's tale TV Series

    California, United States

    Hulu released the first episode of The Handmaid's Tale based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood.

  • A image of Facebook Portal.

  • Facebook Portal

    California, United States

    Facebook Portal, a smart display that provides video chat via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, was released.

  • People took to the streets of Hong Kong to protest the government’s decision to invoke emergency powers to ban face masks in an attempt to quell mass demonstrations.

  • New Hong Kong protests

    City of Victoria, Hong Kong

    Massive protests in Hong Kong were triggered by the introduction of a bill that would have undermined the region's autonomy and people's civil liberties. Protesters used masks, cash, and apps to outwit the surveillance state.

  • An image of a staff member that screens arriving passengers with thermal scanners at Hankou railway station in Wuhan, China.

  • COVID-19 and surveillance

    Worldwide

    In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, governments around the world are imposing digital surveillance tools to track and monitor individuals. Many citizens welcome tracking technology intended to bolster defenses against the novel coronavirus, but some privacy advocates are concerned that governments might not be inclined to unwind such practices after the health emergency has passed.

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